Significant drop in number of patients treated on trolleys at St Luke’s Hospital
THE numbers of patients being treated on trolleys at St Luke’s General Hospital has dropped significantly over the past three days.
Last Friday a total of 46 patients at our local hospital were forced to wait for a bed due to severe overcrowding.
By this morning the number had dropped to just 14, according to latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) trolley ward watch.
A total of 486 patients were left without a bed in hospitals across the country, the figures show.
Hospital overcrowding levels are expected to rise over coming days as temperatures plummet.
The Health Services Executive (HSE) has warned a new virulent strain of the H1N1 swine flu virus is circulating throughout the country.
Health authorities have urged people in vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children to get vaccinated, and others to stay at home if they notice they have flu-life symptoms.
